The Perfect Appetizers

Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches cut into mini wedges make the perfect appetizer for a wine club. Wine clubs are great, but you need to eat a little something to offset the wine. No one wants to be that person that loses a little coherency at the party. These gourmet grilled cheeses are very tasty and a real crowd pleaser.

Check out the Gourmet Grilled Cheese Recipes

Shrimp, Bacon and Gorgonzola

Bacon, Tomato and Gruyer

Avocado, Asparagus and Gruyere

There are 5 reasons why these are a winner…

The Perfect Comfort Food

Who doesn’t love grilled cheese? Most of us grew up eating grilled cheese sandwiches. Add a few gourmet touches and Voila!

All The Food Groups

Bacon, cheese, butter, crusty bread, onion, garlic…with these ingredeints you simply can not go wrong.

The Forgotten Magic Of Velveeta

Yes I worked for Kraft for 35 years and have a bias. The bias is based in seeing how it works. The Velveeta gives your sandwich that wonderful ooey gooey texture. Trust me, I have done blind panel testing and the Velveeta sandwiches are a consistent winner. Its magic!

For marketing and flavor purposes I use Gruyere and Gorgonzola as well. Somehow Velveeta doesn’t convey the upscale “gourmet” message I am trying to convey.

Easy Variety To Please Everyone

Get your ingredients together and you can make all kinds of options very easily. In today’s world where all kinds of options are polarizing you can even please

Seafood haters
Vegetarians
Tomato haters

When in doubt, just add bacon!

Can Be Made Ahead

I make these in advance and reheat in the oven just before serving.

You are going to have to trust me on this one. Try these for your next wine club and they won’t last long. You may not impress your favorite wine snob, but keep an eye on him…he will be the one that sneaks the last one when heads are turned!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

“Processed” Is Not A Dirty Word

When it comes to food safety, something being processed is a very good thing. In today’s food world, local, organic, and natural are all the rage. The big “food processors” are viewed as the evil empire. What is lost in the hype, is that with food processing comes important food safety procedures. It no surprise that companies like Chipotle that embraced the consumer demand for local/less processed ingredients, have been plagued with food safety issues. This trend will continue until consumers relearn the value of processed foods.

This belief makes me a dinosaur. Everyone knows that processed foods are killing us. Or at least that is what we are being told. It has become a common belief that complicated ingredient lines that read like a chemistry texts are the root cause of every disease from cancer to autism. Lost in all the craze is the reality is that people are living longer. Life expectancies continue to grow. (See the following chart) In the end, My position is that processed foods (with sound food safety procedures behind them) are as much of a contributor to longer life expectancy, as they are a contributor to chronic disease.

I believe in balance and common sense. Too much of anything is not good. If something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t good for you. Ignoring food safety principles isn’t good for you either.

One thing learned from working for 35 years for a major food processor, is that they have a vested interest in making their products safe. The legal liability alone, is huge if a product has a safety issue. There are policies and procedures galore to make sure their products won’t make someone sick or, god forbid, kill someone.

There is a great story about my cousins in Hawaii. They developed a business making products that used organic virgin coconut oil that they sourced from a small Company in the Philippines. My cousins raved about this company and how they made the “purest product”. At the time I ran a desiccated coconut company in the Philippines for Kraft foods. It turned out that the supplier that sold organic virgin coconut oil to my cousins was on the other side of the mountain from our plant. We asked our quality manager, with 25 years of experience in food safety, to visit the supplier. The report that came back was horrifying. There was a strong possibility that the “Purest Product” could kill someone. Did my cousins believe me? I don’t know.

There is one thing I do know, being careful with food safety is important. Food products that are local, organic, natural and less processed are not necessarily safer. Unfortunately, I expect time will tell us that they are less safe and that, when talking about food, Processed is not a dirty word.

Are Paper Recipes Obsolete?

I don’t think so. In today’s multimedia world, so much of what we do and use, is Internet based. There is something about having a hard paper copy of a recipe that is easier and safer when you are actually cooking.

Do you need a paper recipe?. Absolutely not! Fumble to open a screen on your laptop or drop your phone in the egg wash once, and you will love your paper recipe.

In preparing for Supper club dinner parties, I use it all. My usual process includes:

Getting ideas from everywhere (See the blog)
- Restaurants
- Travels
- Television
- The Internet
- Family
- Books
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Friends
- Other Supper Clubbers
Research recipes on the
- Internet,
- Cookbooks,
- Old notes
- Word of mouth.
Then adapt and combine to develop a recipe
Use Word or Notes to develop a draft
Finalize a recipe in Zip Recipe software
Publish a recipe via websites, email

YES I USE COMPUTER BASED TECHNOLOGY A LOT!

I still like a printed copy of recipe when I am cooking. I don’t necessarily follow it, but I like to be able to reference it. There is something dangerous about having your iPhone, iPad or computer in the mix of your prep table. Drop your phone once in an egg wash and you will never have your phone on your prep table ever again.

We just finished developing a menu for our March Supper Club. My friend ask me to write a menu around Rack of Lamb. To be honest, I have been reluctant to suggest rack of lamb for our supper club because my recipe is a little complicated. It isn’t the easiest recipe’ but the results are worth it.

CHECK OUT THE MENU

The first course is a little different. The Roasted Pepper Involito is an idea I got from an Italian restaurant in Scotland. It brings all the food groups together in a very tasty way. Combine the Involito with a bed of arugula and a Balsamic Glaze dressing and you have a wonderful first course.

Do you need a paper recipe?. Absolutely not! Fumble to open a screen on your laptop or drop your phone in the egg wash once and you will love your paper recipe.